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THE FUTURE OF PAYMENT METHODS IN BETTING

According to available data from the American Gaming Association, 39.2 million US residents bet yearly, with 71% of sports gamblers in the United States doing so regularly (weekly). Many believe this figure has grown to this size thanks to the repeal of PASPA in 2018, which allowed US states to pass laws that regulate online gambling as they see fit. The truth is that millions of Americans have wagered for years before this occurrence illegally, with the AGA estimating that around $150 billion in black market bets got placed by Americans annually. Naturally, most of these got accepted by offshore bookmakers who ply their trade over the Internet. 

Despite the fact that over thirty US regions have now allowed sports wagering, a decent chunk of the betting US public opts to use internationally regulated platforms that accept US players, despite US regulation not allowing this in many territories. One of the reasons why this happens is that these sites can employ novel payment options that are unavailable at US-based sites, which have to follow IRS and various other rules that facilitate transaction transparency.

Famed US online bookies like FanDuel and DraftKings primarily lean on permitting credit/debit card deposits for their user bases. Consequently, most of them have not branched off into PayPal betting or more exotic options such as Bitcoin, altcoins, lesser-known e-wallets, renowned pre-paid voucher solutions, and other generally considered niched picks that laxly-regulated international platforms allow. Without question, hubs with weaker oversight are the first to adopt new payment solutions and bring about various transaction innovations in the betting landscape.

The Rise of Cryptos, Skins Betting, and the Potential for NFT Wagering

Crypto gambling was birthed in the early 2010s when the initial collection of Bitcoin dice sites hit the World Wide Web. A couple of years after this happened, Bustabit popped up on the scene, pioneering crash-style wagering, and it was during this period that Curacao-based operators, originally Antillephone, chose to enter this arena and start to give out licenses to companies offering gambling services via cryptos.

Nowadays, the range of websites that permit coin-based betting is massive. Blockchain tech has spread like wildfire in multiple spheres in the past few years, including online gaming communities and e-commerce. Therefore, it makes sense that this somewhat novel tech has gotten a foothold in online gambling. It has attained such a deep one that in recent times, skins betting hubs have appeared, which are Internet bookmakers that accept stakes such as digital items from games like Counter Strike Global Offensive while also yielding such rewards.

In 2022, an NFT (non-fungible token) startup called Stakes pulled in more than $5.3 million in funding to create a social betting platform where winning choices get minted as NFTs. That is something that various Ethereum-based metaverses are also exploring. Thus, it is clear that the remote betting landscape is not moving to gambling that utilizes what most would consider non-traditional currency models.

Implementation of Higher Security Features

With an ever-growing number of everyday activities getting based online and people sharing virtually all their data in the digital realm, robust privacy and safety concerns have emerged for all parties. So, to better deal with these challenges, multiple payment processors are looking into implementing biometric authentication options into their transaction software solutions, such as voice recognition, palm vein, iris, and fingerprint scanning. Plus, facial scans, all in hopes of reducing fraud and enhancing security. Some gambling operators are also dabbling with this, as most credible sites have already incorporated 2FA and various other safety measures.

Moreover, many online bettors have also adopted cryptocurrencies like Monero, which put an emphasis on user piracy and anonymity, which can be super relevant in the context of betting. For instance, Monero uses ring signatures, has confidential transactions, and features stealth addresses that obfuscate all data.

 

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